This weekend, eyes have been on the Nigerian southwestern state of Edo as the region conducted its gubernatorial election in the middle of a pandemic.
Hours after the people of Edo State in southwestern Nigeria headed to the polls for the state’s hotly contested governorship elections, the incumbent governor and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Godwin Obaseki, has officially been declared the winner of the elections after scoring the highest number of votes.
The result of the election, which was collated from over two thousand polling centres spread across Edo state’s 18 Local Government Areas, was announced by the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state’s capital city of Benin, a day after Saturday’s elections.
“Godwin Obaseki of the PDP, having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner,” announced Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh, INEC’s Returning Officer in Edo state.
According to the numbers, Obasaeki polled 307,955 votes defeating his main opponent, Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who pulled in 223,619 votes. Out of the Nigerian state’s 18 Local Government Areas, Obaseki won in 13, scoring more than 25 per cent of the votes cast in two-thirds of the Local Governments in the state, thereby satisfying the second constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.
Defection And Nigerian Party Fallout
Obaseki had won his first tenure in 2016 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress and with the support of his predecessor and former party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. That same year, Ize-Iyamu had also contested for the state’s top seat under the umbrella of the PDP.
However, over time, friction between the governor and party chairman at the time led to divisions within the party culminating with Obaseki’s disqualification from the governorship ticket of the party and eventual defection to the opposing PDP alongside his deputy, Phillip Shaibu. In another surprise move, Oshiomhole eventually settled on Obaseki’s former rival, Ize-Iyamu, to represent the party in the governorship elections.
In the run-up to the elections, both parties and former allies partook in back and forth slander with Obaseki’s camp citing and criticising the events of the 2019 Lagos state governorship election that saw another governor ousted from the APC after a fall out with his predecessor.
Obaseki’s win comes amidst allegations of vote-buying and disregard for COVID-19 election guidelines. Both Nigerian political parties are yet to issue official statements in response to the announced results.
